PFS2012 Author Guest Post: Jessica Therrien + Giveaway

I remember reading an awesome review, though I'm too lazy to look it up, written by Sam at Realm of Fiction on OPPRESSION by Jessica Therrien, and it's been on my mind for quite a while. I can never get enough of Greek myth retellings, which, as you know, fits wonderfully with this month's theme! Today, Jessica is here to talk to you about her hate-to-love relationship with reading, which I think some of us can definitely relate to!

Hi! I’m Jessica Therrien, the author of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1), and I’m here to tell you how YA fantasy/paranormal books changed my life. Thanks for having me Asher!

My mother is an English teacher, so when I was growing up I felt a lot of pressure to love reading. My problem? I didn’t. I hated it (a shameful secret I kept to myself amongst my brainiac group of friends). Sure I got good grades, wrote A+ papers, and geeked out with the rest of them, but when it came to reading for fun, I cringed. I was convinced something was wrong with me.

Then one day, in my effort to at least look like I was interested in books, I came across Harry Potter. I was on vacation, and with nothing else to do I decided to give it a go. Maybe if I just kept trying to like reading, one day I would. Maybe it was an acquired taste, like black coffee or fancy cheese.

I expected to put the book down after chapter five like the rest of them, completely confused as to why people liked to torture themselves with this reading thing, BUT…as you may have guessed, I. LOVED. IT. I couldn’t get enough!

Then something amazing happened. I understood. I realized that I didn’t hate reading. I just hated reading the depressing books my mother had lined our bookshelves with. Come to find out, my mother doesn’t like fantasy.

Once I found my genre and discovered the world of YA fiction with its page-turning stories that carried me away to different worlds, I was hooked. I’m so thankful for that moment, because in the end it changed my life. If you had told me in high school that I would end up being an author, I would have laughed in your face. Go figure…I love what I do. And guess what else? I love to read.

What books changed your perspective on reading? Any memorable titles that changed your life in some way?

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So, the awesome Jessica is putting together a few signed bookmarks and an Oppression notebook together for one lucky US winner! How awesome, right? Well, sign up and enter away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.

You can find Jessica on her Goodreads | Blog | Twitter | Facebook !

Make sure to stop by later today a guest post and giveaway with Jessica Therrien!
Find out what happened the first week of Paranormous Fantastival and enter to win some amazing prize packs!
Find out what happened last week and stay updated!
And, lastly, don't forget to check out this week's schedule!

Thank you so much, Jessica! Comment down below if you suspect you might be a demigod or you've gotten past the second book in the Harry Potter series.